WAMC: First time applicant

[mimi1021]

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Hello, I was wondering if someone can give me some insight as to how likely I'll be accepted to vet school. I listed my stats below, and next to my gpas I put an alternative gpa that I may end up with depending on my performance for the next two quarters. I am from CA, so I am aiming for Davis or Western for cheaper tuition. Thanks!

Vet Schools I am interested in:
Davis, Western, Cornell, Ohio (my top 4, I will be applying to at least 10)

Undergraduate: UC Davis
cGPA: 3.85 (3.80)
sGPA: 3.85 (3.80)
last 45 units GPA: 3.98 (3.85)

Experiences:
- vet technician at small animal clinic: ~1980 hrs (most paid hrs)
- volunteer at reptile zoo: ~200 hrs
- volunteer at animal rescue: ~150 hrs
- volunteer at cat shelter: ~75 hrs
- non-animal related work: ~290 hrs
- non-animal related volunteer: ~400 hrs (this is from HS though, not sure if it's good to include)
- research with marine invertebrates: ~500 hrs (most paid hrs)
- presented research at SICB (Oregon) research conference and 2 times at Davis conference, will go to a research conference in Germany

Awards
- congressional award gold medal (again from HS)
- dean's list (last 2 years)

LORs:
- veterinarian at small animal clinic
- PI from research lab
- postdoc from research lab

 

[stinkyfreddy]

i think you're solid. make sure to have bomb essays and i think youll be fine

 

[purpleeventer]

Your GPA and experiences look great so I think you’re a strong applicant! I would strongly recommend adding a professor to your LORs though. Quite a few schools recommend or require it. Also, if you have the opportunity, I would try to diversify your vet hours a bit, even if it’s just a handful of hours shadowing.

 

[macgowsy]

You have a good base. Work hard on your essays to stand out and collaborate with your references well. Also I'm pretty sure Western is private so it is not cheaper for in-state and is like 60k for everyone. Consider schools that let you get in-state tuition after the first year like Washington State University and Missouri.

 

[mr.meowboy]

Are the postdoc and PI that are writing your letters from the same lab? If so, I would just get a letter from the PI (PI holds more weight than a postdoc) and find another letter writer. It doesn't look great to have multiple LORs coming from the same place. I would take @purpleeventer's advice and get a letter from a professor instead, since most schools require that anyway.

I worked really closely with a postdoc in my undergrad lab, so when my PI wrote my LOR, he kind of cowrote it with the postdoc since she knew me better. You could suggest that idea to your PI if they don't know you very well, that way you can get one super strong letter versus having two of essentially the same letter.